Ouch ! 35% price hike from British Gas

[polly]

Originally Posted by margaret@rothwell5.f

If they reduced the payout to their shareholders, those shareholders would sell the shares and buy some others, and that could lead to company collapse.
I believe thats how it works and I dont like it either

Do we as consumers care if the company collapses? The government will have to step in and 'save' the company (which by the way was our company before the government of the day sold it off). They have already set a precedent with Northern Rock

[MargaretR]

Originally Posted by polly

Do we as consumers care if the company collapses? The government will have to step in and 'save' the company (which by the way was our company before the government of the day sold it off). They have already set a precedent with Northern Rock

I can't see any company that will voluntarily bring about its own downfall.
Northern Rock had lending practices which were overdependant on influences outside their control.

[polly]

Originally Posted by margaret@rothwell5.f

I can't see any company that will voluntarily bring about its own downfall.
Northern Rock had lending practices which were overdependant on influences outside their control.

Then they have to be compelled to re invest. It is not inour interest to worry about British Gas share holders, when they invested they took a gamble - not all gambles pay off and they have no moral right to profit from peoples misery

[cashman]

Originally Posted by polly

Then they have to be compelled to re invest. It is not inour interest to worry about British Gas share holders, when they invested they took a gamble - not all gambles pay off and they have no moral right to profit from peoples misery

that i can go with investment IS a gamble- end of,its no differant than having a bet, if ya lose ya pay the piper- i did no complaints, gas shareholders should be treated different? not in my book.

[man4u50s]

On the news tonight they said british gas had posted a billion pound in profits for their first quarter sadly for them its 20% down on last year.

something else to think about ...did you know the bank of england is also privatly owned...I always thought we the people of england owned it sorry not so.

[Benipete]

Originally Posted by man4u50s

On the news tonight they said british gas had posted a billion pound in profits for their first quarter sadly for them its 20% down on last year.

something else to think about ...did you know the bank of england is also privatly owned...I always thought we the people of england owned it sorry not so.

British Gas is owned by CENTRICA it is they who made just short of a billion pounds in the first 6months of the year not the first quarter.

Centrica employ just under 34,000 people in 11 countries.
I'll let you do the maths but to me it's not all that much money for a round the clock company.They have just invested £500 million in a new gas powered generator in this country.
Do you want to buy some shares?

[derekgas]

When all the nationalised industries and the council houses were sold, there were reasons for it, they were so dilapidated that it would have cost billions in taxes to put them right and get them up to scratch, and a vain attempt to get some of the poorer people owning thier own homes and on the shareholders list, it worked for some, (more for the rich than the poor), New labour got back in power and did nothing to change any of the things they were so vehemently against, why? because they would have had to raise taxes to buy everything back, and raise them again to bring all the utilities and houses up to scratch, niether did they give any power back to the unions, there is no way out for any future government than raising taxes, unless they find a way to get some of the billions that the fat cats have made since privatisation. so yes, we are doomed whatever your votes, and that is why many dont bother voting, they know the writing is on the wall whatever we do.

[polly]

The government has nearly doubled its estimate of the cost of British military operations in Iraq, according to figures revealed by Gordon Brown yesterday.

The chancellor has now agreed to set aside more than £5.5bn to pay for the operations. At the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, ministers allocated £3bn to cover what they called "the full costs of the UK's military obligations" there. Guardian 6/12/05

Now that could be a good subsidy for fuel prices and that is before we start with the cost of Afghanistan, and a a hundred and one other things our government throws our money away on

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by polly

The government has nearly doubled its estimate of the cost of British military operations in Iraq, according to figures revealed by Gordon Brown yesterday.

The chancellor has now agreed to set aside more than £5.5bn to pay for the operations. At the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, ministers allocated £3bn to cover what they called "the full costs of the UK's military obligations" there. Guardian 6/12/05

Now that could be a good subsidy for fuel prices and that is before we start with the cost of Afghanistan, and a a hundred and one other things our government throws our money away on

...including the two aircraft carriers that the government have ordered, because we still harbour the myth that we are a "world power" and, of course, our nuclear deterrent which is controlled by the US anyway. It's high time we shed some of our imperial delusions - they are costing us dearly!

[Benipete]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

...including the two aircraft carriers that the government have ordered, because we still harbour the myth that we are a "world power" and, of course, our nuclear deterrent which is controlled by the US anyway. It's high time we shed some of our imperial delusions - they are costing us dearly!

We will have the money when Labour have sold off what is left of our electricity industry to the Frogs.Already sold the gold reserves so I'm hiding the family silver along with the Rembrandt and the Picasso.

[Loz]

Got our gas bill through the other day and it has tripled!!
We are really going to struggle to pay it like countless others.
We have turned our water off so we aren't using any gas at the moment.
We are boiling the kettle to wash dishes etc.. and luckily have an electric shower.
It is ridiculous in this day and age that we are going to have to revert to the old ways to keep warm in winter because we can't afford our bills.
We have decided if it carries on like this that we won't put the central heating on,barely use the fire and will invest in warm jumpers and a big thick duvet.
God knows how old people are going to cope

[Bonnyboy]

Things certainly don’t look good, especially if we have a particularly harsh winter.

Guessing that oil prices may have peaked, they have dropped a little, so fingers crossed.

Makes you wonder what would have happened if every single customer had opted to cap their bills for a few years, say until 2010.

Only a scenario I know, but it would have been interesting. Would the companies who do offer the service have to stand by the agreement or dya rekon they covered their butts in the small print